It’s unique all right. Come for the fishing and stay for the bad Karma. If only that airstrip could talk.
Oh wait. It kind of can:
No wonder the MSP is having trouble getting recruits.
–“The Michigan State Police, reeling from a 2023 exam-rigging scandal at the Flint post that ended five careers, is in turmoil amid controversial promotions, a wave of departures, and the director’s response to a fatal chase.
The names and faces are new, but much of the upheaval is not. The upper levels of the state police have been rocked for years by lawsuits, feuds, and resentments as the agency historically dominated by white males has sought to diversify, records show. One white lieutenant was so disgruntled after being passed over for promotion by a Black woman that his supervisor consulted a psychologist to get a sense of whether he might harm himself or others, according to sworn testimony in previous lawsuits.”
–Michigan State Police face suspicion for handling of cold case murder as covered in the podcast Where Secrets Go To Die, https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/where-secrets-go-to-die/id1737825176 .
My family and I have been talking, writing, litigating and attempting to litigate about/over the complicity of MSP polygraphers, those in the FOIA division who illegally redact and withhold documents, the actions and inaction by the state lab (past and present), as well as the gas-lighting MSP detectives and higher-ups who dealt with my dad and my family post-2005. It may be in their “culture” not to “deal with” families of victims, but it is apparently part of their culture to facilitate the crimes committed by Oakland County prosecutors in 1977. Their failures in the OCCK case at every possible turn have been compounded over the decades by the unrelenting need to keep a lid on this case.
As much as Colonel Grady wishes to focus on what needs to be done in the future because he doesn’t have time “to keep worrying about what happened in the past,” it is clear that all of the self-inflicted difficulties outlined by the Detroit Free Press in this article and the podcast are a direct result of a twisted agency culture.
Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. The MSP is not immune from this maxim.
Abused by the badge
A Washington Post investigation found hundreds of law enforcement officers in the United States have sexually exploited kids. Many avoid prison time.
Police and sheriff’s departments have enabled predators by botching background checks, ignoring red flags and mishandling investigations. Accused cops have used their knowledge of the legal system to stall cases, get charges lowered or evade convictions. Prosecutors have given generous plea deals to officers who admitted to raping and groping minors. Judges have allowed many convicted officers to avoid prison time.
WAPO, online edition, June 12, 2024
If you don’t have a subscription, consider signing up for the limited deal of $4.00 for a month of access if it is still available. Calendar the cancellation date and take care of business. This interactive and multi-linked article is worth the read.
Very little has been done to deal with child sex abusers within the ranks of law enforcement. Cops who crime know how to manipulate the system and spend their limited capabilities and energy protecting themselves rather than the public. Prosecutors and judges who enable them by going easy on them are just as reprehensible. The WAPO investigation into 1800 state and local law enforcement officers charged with a crime involving child sexual abuse is no surprise to me, but it still shocks the conscience and it strains credulity to think the ranks of law enforcement will take care of this “problem” as a public service measure.
Child victims of sex abusers with a badge are left with no recourse and no one to protect them. Think about how heinous that is.